Nick Pollock (born November 22, 1967) is a
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
-based singer, guitarist, and songwriter best known for his work with the
grunge band
My Sister's Machine
My Sister's Machine was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989. Its members were Nick Pollock (lead vocals, guitar), Owen Wright (guitar), Chris Ivanovich (bass guitar), and Chris Gohde (drums).
This band recorded and re ...
. He has also played in various bands with other notable musicians, including
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
singer
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley (born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American musician, songwriter and the original lead singer of the rock band Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part ...
and
Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...
guitarist
Michael Wilton
Michael F. Wilton (born February 23, 1962) also known as The Whip, for how fast his fingers "whip" around the guitar fretboard, is an American musician, best known for being a guitarist and songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, w ...
. He graduated from
Lindbergh High School in 1986.
Biography
Alice N' Chains
Around 1985-86, Pollock was invited to play guitar with the band
Sleze, whose other members at the time were vocalist
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley (born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American musician, songwriter and the original lead singer of the rock band Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part ...
, bassist
Jim Sheppard
James Patrick Sheppard (born May 8, 1961) is an American musician. He was the bassist and founding member of the progressive metal band, Nevermore, and its predecessor, Sanctuary.Mustica, Giorgio.An Interview with Jeff Loomis: Cooling The Burn ...
, and drummer
James Bergstrom
James Bergstrom is an American musician best known as the drummer for the band Second Coming.Stav, StevThe Second Coming of Second Coming "Intermittent Signals" September 1, 2001. Retrieved on June 8, 2011. Before that, he played drums for the ba ...
. Sheppard would leave to focus full-time on his main band
Sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...
, and he was subsequently replaced by Mike Mitchell. Eventually, Mitchell also left the band and founding guitarist
Johnny Bacolas
Johnny Bacolas (Greek: Γιάννης Μπάkολας; classical transcription ''Yiannis Bacolas'') (born March 3, 1969) is an American musician, composer and producer. He is best known for his work with the post-grunge band Second Coming, where ...
would rejoin the band on bass, and they changed their name to
Alice N' Chains. The band recorded two
demos and toured throughout the Seattle area for roughly one year before they broke up in 1987. Staley went on to join the band that eventually took the name
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
and became hugely successful. Alice in Chains guitarist
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internation ...
stated in an interview several years later that it was Pollock who first introduced him to Staley.
My Sister's Machine
After the break-up of Alice N' Chains, Pollock played for about a year in a funk band with some older musicians. In 1989, Pollock formed the band
My Sister's Machine
My Sister's Machine was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989. Its members were Nick Pollock (lead vocals, guitar), Owen Wright (guitar), Chris Ivanovich (bass guitar), and Chris Gohde (drums).
This band recorded and re ...
along with guitarist
Owen Wright, bassist
Chris Ivanovich, and drummer
Chris Gohde. Since none of the other members had ever been a lead singer, Pollock got the job by default as their primary lyricist, scribbling many of his verses between customers while working at a gas station.
[Boehm,Mik]
MSM: Newest Vein of Gold in Seattle's Hard-Rock Quarry
"Los Angeles Times" May 15, 1992. Retrieved on April 28, 2011. They went on to release two studio albums, ''
Diva
Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...
'' and ''Wallflower''. Pollock wrote or co-wrote every track off both those albums. Both albums were largely well received by critics.
However, My Sister's Machine split up in 1994 after Elektra Entertainment folded the label they were under at that time.
In June 2010, the Layne Staley Fund announced that My Sister's Machine would be headlining the upcoming Layne Staley Tribute on August 21.
In 2017, ''Metal Injection'' ranked Alice in Chains (Staley's version) and My Sister's Machine respectively at number 1 and number 6 on their list of "10 Heaviest Grunge Bands".
Tanks of Zen
Following the break-up of My Sister's Machine, Pollock started another band called Tanks of Zen. In 2000, this band recorded a set of songs under the working title ''American Hangover''. A
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
shot in
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
was released for the song “Through the Red Lie”. It features all four members of the band at that time – Pollock, guitarist Tim Jones, bassist Steve Rehnstrom, and drummer Todd Marvin – performing in studio intercut with scenes of a man and a woman, portrayed respectively by Pollock and his friend Bobbi Maas Woods, fighting in a
bedroom. Despite this, however, ''American Hangover'' has so far never been properly released.
In 2009,
Tanks of Zen reemerged with Pollock fronting a new lineup that included bassist Dan Scott, drummer Mark Locke, and for a brief spell, second guitarist Matt Johnson. They also announced their plans to record a new set of songs under the working title ''Love's Gentle Maw'', which has been described by the band as a
concept album dealing in
relationships. In 2011, Pollock announced on Facebook that ''Love's Gentle Maw'' was in the final stages of production and being mastered by Eric Janko and Eddy Schreyer, who were also involved in the production of ''Soulbender''; Schreyer has also mastered or co-mastered Alice in Chains' first three releases ''
Facelift
A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy (from the Ancient Greek () "wrinkle", and () "excision", the surgical removal of wrinkles), is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are mul ...
'', ''
Sap
Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.
Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...
'' and ''
Dirt
Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty.
Common types of dirt include:
* Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains
* Dust: a gener ...
''. The album was officially released on September 30, 2011.
Soulbender
In 2001, Pollock formed
Soulbender with
Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...
guitarist
Michael Wilton
Michael F. Wilton (born February 23, 1962) also known as The Whip, for how fast his fingers "whip" around the guitar fretboard, is an American musician, best known for being a guitarist and songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, w ...
, guitarist Dave Groves, and drummer Wes Hallam. This group performed at the very first Layne Staley Tribute held in 2002, the year Staley died.
[KNAC Pure Rock Newswire 08/23/02](_blank)
/ref> With the addition of bass player Marten Van Keith, they released their self-titled debut album in 2004. Many observers have compared this album to Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
and Tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
.[Soulbender (demo)](_blank)
/ref>[Soulbender Guitarist Happily Does Double Duty](_blank)
/ref> Sefany Jones, a contributing editor of KNAC
KBUE (105.5 FM, "Que Buena 105.5/94.3 FM") is a commercial radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In te ...
, listed the album among her Top 15 albums of 2004; it came in at Number Two. Pollock left Soulbender in early 2007 and was subsequently replaced by his friend Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
vocalist Travis Bracht
Travis Bracht is a Seattle-based singer and guitarist best known for his work with the post-grunge band Second Coming.Stav, StevThe Second Coming of Second Coming "Intermittent Signals" September 1, 2001. Retrieved on June 8, 2011.
Biography Peac ...
. Around 2013-14, Pollock reunited with the original full line-up of Soulbender to record four new tracks to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their original release. These four track were released as part of a remastered disc titled ''Soulbender II''.
The National Guard
In 2015, Pollock formed The National Guard along with Truly guitarist Chris Quinn (later replaced by James Chow), Minus the Bear
Minus the Bear was an American indie rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2001, and comprising members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Sharks Keep Moving. Their sound was described as " Pele-esque guitar-taps and electronics with sophisticate ...
drummer Erin Tate
Erin Tate is the former drummer of Seattle-based indie rock band Minus the Bear and Hand of the Hills, a side project started with David Totten ( The Quiet Ones, Scriptures
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various r ...
, and bassist Nick Rhinehart, who previously worked with Pollock's former My Sister's Machine bandmate Owen Wright in the group Old Lady Litterbug. He also played bass for Jerry Cantrell as part of the touring band, which also included Queensrÿche guitarist Chris DeGarmo
Christopher Lee DeGarmo (born June 14, 1963) is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being a rhythm and lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche from their formation in 1 ...
and Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney
Sean Howard Kinney (born May 27, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Alice in Chains. Kinney also founded the short-lived supergroup Spys4Darwin, and has collaborated with other artists such ...
, for Cantrell's solo debut ''Boggy Depot
''Boggy Depot'' is the debut solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. The vinyl edition was released on March 31, 1998, and the CD was released on April 7, 1998 through Columbia Records. The album was named after the ...
''. The National Guard have so far released put out two singles, "Inauguration Day" and "Wheel".
Other musical projects
In January 2010, Pollock guest appeared with a band called Sundance Crow, led by Irish guitarist Matt Hayward
Matt Hayward is an Irish Dublin-based guitarist and songwriter. He has written and recorded with various bands and notable musicians, including My Sister's Machine singer Nick Pollock, Clannad singer/bassist Ciaran Brennan, Edie Brickell, Malfunk ...
; Pollock sung on their track "Silvertongue". However, the band disbanded shortly after the recording and the release was shelved but the song itself has appeared online.Sundance Crow – Silvertongue
/ref>
Discography
My Sister's Machine
Soulbender
Tanks of Zen
The National Guard
Other appearances
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, Nick
Alice N' Chains members
American rock musicians
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American heavy metal singers
American male singers
Grunge musicians
Singers from Washington (state)
My Sister's Machine members
Place of birth missing (living people)
Musicians from Seattle
1967 births
Living people
Glam metal musicians
Guitarists from Washington (state)
20th-century American guitarists
Soulbender members
20th-century American male musicians